All the College Degrees are in your Hand!

American University System

The American university system has its peculiarities and specificities, so it is important to be well informed before undertaking graduate studies at New York. You will find in this section briefly described the different kinds of institutions, their functioning, conditions and admission fees, etc..

Types of institutions

Higher education varies considerably not only between different types of academic institutions, but also from one institution to another. Can be distinguished:

Public universities in New York (City University of New York) CUNY or the duration of studies is respectively four or six years (except in Community Colleges), according to the degree that we want to obtain either a Bachelor Degree or a Master’s Degree.

the Community Colleges (part of CUNY) which go mainly to people with learning difficulties or financial. Indeed, the level and tuition are significantly lower than those of other universities. The duration of study is two years, after which a diploma is issued (Associate Degree). It is nevertheless possible (subject to obtaining very good results) to guide subsequent to a public university (CUNY Colleges to) or private in order to accomplish two more years and get a better degree.

Private universities (like NYU or Columbia), which function as the CUNY but the fees are much higher than elsewhere

American Degrees

Can be distinguished:

The Associate’s Degrees awarded by the community colleges after two years of study. Very often springboards for a Bachelor.

The Bachelor’s Degrees, crowning four years of study at a university, public or private.

The Master’s Degrees, issued after six years of study at a university, public or private.

Functioning

Students must choose the general direction of their studies, which is called “Major”. Example: Computer Science, Business Administration, Accounting, Political Science, etc..

Higher education operates on the principle of accumulation of credits: it fits a number of them each semester. Continuous monitoring has the same value as the examinations. We go or not in the upper class for each subject individually (this is not an average). At the end of two, four or six years, he must have accumulated the required number of credits to graduate.

The school year is divided into two “halves” from September to December and January to May, plus the summer. We can integrate an establishment early in the second half, if they have time to process the registration process.

Students generally have a choice of their time, which allows many of them to be gainfully employed in parallel. This does not apply to foreign students under student visa, which did not officially allowed to work.

Registration fees are important: they are free, and universities varies considerably. Costs also vary according to the number of credits which it was registered. As an indication, a semester of fifteen credits (approximately five subjects) costs $ 1300 in a Community College, College $ 1,600 in public, and can reach $ 9,000 in a private university. Tip: If you do your studies in the United States with a student visa, you will have the status of International Student for which fees are doubled. The purchase of textbooks is of course the responsibility of the students (starting between $ 60 and $ 100 per pound nine). It is therefore interesting to buy used.

Admission in American college

For American students or students who are not under a student visa, and have conducted studies in the United States, it is their results that the school will depend admission to College. As the average obtained during the four years of High School that test scores called Scholastic Aptitude Test or SAT (that seniors spend their last year of High School) are decisive for the choice of an institution of higher education as only excellent results offer the opportunity to enroll in the best colleges. Poor results do not allow the admission that in Community Colleges (two years maximum).